Last week a judge sentenced Sanchez to one to three years for animal fighting, one year for animal cruelty and one year for criminal possession of a weapon. (Sanchez will serve these sentences concurrently.)

He’s also been slapped with a ban on keeping animals for the duration of his parole. Sanchez waived his right to appeal.

We hope Sanchez’s sentence serves as a reminder to dog fighters that their crimes against innocent animals carry serious consequences.

Hey, I agree he murdered many dogs I am sure. Why is there not a murder conviction for animals....cruelty does not really say it all. Does this mean when a human is murdered it is cruel and not really death? Death penalty needs to be added for dog fighters!!!!

Not enough time, just a slap on the wrist. And MIchael Vick got a dog(supposedly for his son) after he got out of jail and has resumed his charmed life. REALLY? What does it take? Dog fighters are cruel, mean people. They are scary and need help. Maybe they were abused themselves, don't know, but can they be rehabed? Not sure, but the point is we, and their victims need to be protected from them.

I have a german shepherd and a yellow labrador.I love them so much.I rescued the labrador and raised the german shepherd from a puppy.I would do anything for them including putting my own life at risk for them.every holiday I buy them presents just like how I get presents.the only difference is I don't get dog treats or dog toys as presents.I make sure I play with them more than two hours a day and I take care of them but they pay me back with love.I can't think about anybody abusing dog.

To lowlifes like Raul Sanchez, 1-3 years (and out in 18 months) is a taxpayer-paid vacation where he'll get 3 hots and a cot and hang out with the homies. He'll learn from them how not to get caught when he resumes his operations.

why should his sentence run concurrently? why not one after the other. then he would spend at least 5 years behind bars. and that bit about no animals while on parole?? what parole why automatically assume he will get parole!!! what a pud!!!

I agree with all of the above, that this scumbag did not get a fraction of the time he deserved. The punishment does not fit the crime(s). Further, only banning Sanchez from having animals for the duration of his parole is appalling. It would be more appropriate to ban him from having/keeping animals for the rest of his natural life...and enforcing it! People like Sanchez typically do not change. In fact, their cruelty often escalates. We must do whatever we can to push for tougher animal cruelty laws, as well as enforcement of said laws and harsher punishments for offenders. Just as we try to protect defenseless children from predators with the sex offender registry, we should do the same to protect helpless animals by establishing an animal cruelty offender registry. Even those who do not care for animals as much as we do should realize that someone who can look into the pleading eyes of an animal and do them harm is very likely to have no problem doing the same to a child. There is a reason that violent criminals typically have multiple charges. Something must be done to either truly rehabilitate people, or simply not let them out of prison only to offend again. Write your members of Congress about such matters whenever you can. Look out for things that just don't seem right in your community, and intervene within reason if you see something bad happening to an animal or any other being who cannot defend his or her self. We all owe it to each other and to the animals who love us.